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Transporter 2 (US - DVD R1)

Paul Greenwood examines the region one release of this recent action movie

Feature There are exactly two ways to approach a film like Transporter 2—you can roll your eyes and scoff at its preposterous plot, over the top action and total disregard for the laws of physics. Or you can nod knowingly, open another beer and let its inspired lunacy wash all over you. It's not exactly the most eagerly awaited sequel in the world, with the somewhat derivative Luc Besson penned original only really becoming a hit in the home market but frankly, I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching a film.

Statham stars as Frank Martin, ex special ops turned courier driver who'll deliver any package for the right price, no questions asked. Having relocated from France to the US, his exclusive cargo is now young Jack (Clay), the son of an important government official (Modine). Things get hairy when the boy is kidnapped by some villainous types and Frank is framed for it. With only Jack's mother (Valletta) on his side, it's a race against time for Frank to save him. But that's only the start of the action, with the real meat of the plot involving a deadly virus that's going to be unleashed on Miami. It's up to Frank to drive really fast, punch really hard and generally save the day.

There are certain films that achieve such a high level of poetic absurdity (Jon Voight's performance in Anaconda is a particular favourite of mine) that you simply can't help but love them. Transporter 2 starts silly and implausible and steadily makes its way towards completely and utterly ludicrous and there are moments of high camp that have to be seen to be believed ("Breathe my friend, breathe.") But it's so farcical, so fantastical that it comes out the other side as something approaching genius.

My waggish colleagues would have you believe that it's awash with homoerotic undercurrents and that Frank is as gay as a steel worker's moustache. They may well be right but he can still rip out your throat with nothing more than a firm stare. Statham makes for a hugely engaging hero, combining fluid fighting skills with a monolithic presence and an agreeably gruff demeanour. Next to him the rest of the cast just don't get a look in, although Gassman is a suitably slimy baddie and Nauta an eye catching, parachute gear wearing terminatrix.

But the insane action is the clear draw. Smile as Frank stiffens a bunch of goons with nothing but a fire hose (Gabe, discuss in fifty words or less). Grin as a quick shimmy actually allows him to dodge bullets. And weep with joy as he dislodges a bomb from the underside of his car by driving up a ramp, spinning in mid air to catch the bomb on a hook that's hanging from a crane, and turning the right way up before landing perfectly and driving off. Sublime.

Video Maybe it's the Florida setting and the amount of sunlight, but the image is often too bright and over-exposed and as a consequence the picture can lack sharpness. Flesh tones suffer too because of this, being shiny rather than natural, but this is surely to do with the way it was filmed rather than any production fault. Darker scenes are rare but they perform better, with good shadow detail and blacks. Clarity and detail are absolutely fine throughout and there are certainly no blemishes or artefacts, but overall this is a curiously underperforming transfer.

Audio For such a kinetic film, the audio takes a little while to warm up and deliver the kind of goods that might be expected. Early action scenes are a bit underplayed, with the rears more likely to be putting out music than any great surround effects. What's really needed to liven things up is gunfire, and when the bullets start flying the mix starts performing.

You also came for the cars remember, and there's plenty happening here. Engine noises are beefed up by the sub while tyres squeal with excellent directionality and collisions are solid and meaningful. There's loads of movement from front to back and side to side, with room left over for music and clear dialogue when needed.

Extras This is where things get a little disappointing, with only a couple of brief featurettes on one side of the disc and a selection of deleted and extended scenes on the other. The deleted scenes are to be found on the widescreen side and last just over twenty minutes in total. There's not a hell of a lot that's sorely missed from the final cut and some of the differences are barely discernible, being very slight extensions to existing scenes.

On the flipside of the disc with the foolscreen version of the film are two featurettes, ‘The Making of Transporter 2’, which runs for just four minutes and ‘Making the Music’, running ten minutes. The first is a cursory behind the scenes featuring sound-bites from Statham and members of the crew that's little more than an extended trailer.

The music featurette has a little more depth to it as we get to see the orchestra practice and perform the score and we hear from the people involved in creating the music for the film. The interviews with the composers are conducted in French and are quite annoyingly presented with some dull voiceover guy translating rather than subtitles. Finally there's a blooper reel that lasts for just over two minutes and barely raises a giggle.

Overall Let me make this expressly clear— Transporter 2 will not appeal to everyone. If it catches you in the wrong mood you might consider it one of the worst films you've ever seen. If, on the other hand, you acquiesce to its charms, you should find yourself having an absolute blast—just a pity it's not on a better quality DVD. Still, no doubt the "It's shite/no it isn't" debate will rumble on unabated. Get over it.

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maverick0716 wrote: I like the first one a lot...I actually own it. It had a lot of really good action and a ok plot. I hated the second one with a passion. There's tons of action, but it's the fakest c**p I've seen in awhile. This and Fantastic 4 were the 2 biggest disappointments this year for me.

I watched it again when my friend rented the DVD. I took a lot more lighthearted this time though, and actually appreciated the movie for what it was. Plus it has a pretty decent transfer on dvd.

I enjoyed this one and the previous, though neither are very good. The opening chase in Transporter is great, one of the best I've seen, but the rest is pretty mediocre to bad. However, both movies are still fun, and this one deserves some credit for just going completely over the top. I don't want to spoil anything, but the bomb desposal, the villian, and the villians final scheme were all just wonderful.

Great light-hearted review Paul. Good to see that it was taken the way i'm sure it was intended (I hope) I can imagine the 3rd movie, 1st was a girl, 2nd a boy so the third must be protecting a......wait for it....gerbil?

I like the first one a lot...I actually own it. It had a lot of really good action and a ok plot. I hated the second one with a passion. There's tons of action, but it's the fakest c**p I've seen in awhile. This and Fantastic 4 were the 2 biggest disappointments this year for me.

robert garcia wrote: I saw the first one and thought it was pretty good except for the woman that he rescues. She had to be the most annoying part of the whole film. Constant ear piercing screaming. lol, didn't you also love the fact that she had a heavy Chinese accent and you could barely understand her but her Chinese father had a strong British accent. That cracks me up every time, lol.

This film was flippin CLASS. Didn't really like the first one but this one with its pretty decent surround track is just so utterly stupid it turned it into real enjoyment for me. Its like going over the top to the bad side, then over the top again back to film entertainment. It was just so ridiculous - the car/bomb bit being a prime example but when that happened I laughed and smiled instead of turning off the DVD which I might have done before.

Kaya Savas wrote: The first one was laughably bad, I won't even bother with the second one, excellent review though. Damn, I guess I lied. My roommate rented it and I saw it, and honestly I never had such a good laugh. The stunt with the bomb under his car and the crane is the most ludicrous thing I have ever seen, lol. Personally, I found the film too implausible to be enjoyed even as a dumb action movie. At least Michael Bay's movies make sense. This film was just the Man On Fire script mish mashed with Hong Kong cinema.

Gabe Powers wrote: Paul, my hat is tipped to you. Thank you for a great review and an aknowlegement of myself in it. I hate to say I enjoyed the s**t out of this s**tty movie myself. The bit where he dispaches of the bomb stuck to his car? Aw inspiring stupidity. I'm very surprised the gay community hasn't picked up on this series yet. If I ever get my own movie theater, I'll have Gay-Thursdays or something, and instead of boring, sterotypical garbage like To Wong Fu, or Quenn of the Desert, I'll show these on a double feature.

Gay as a steel workers mustache, that has got to be the best analogy I've heard in weeks.

Prisilla:Queen Of The Desert is one of the greatest films ever made one of the frist R-Rated films I had ever seen.

I hadn't seen either of the Transporter movies until the second one came out on DVD when I bought both discs at the same time.

Actually, I loved them. I couldn't really say which film was better. I'd say each of them had their moments. Each had the flaws or lackings. But put the best parts of both of them together, and you'd have a great action film.

What bothered me, juts a little, was the repeat stunts that were seen in T2 that were done in T1. For example, the oil slick arms trick. I usually don't mind that sort of thing, but I thought the repeat of that trick showed lack of creativity.

While I thought the new deluxe edition of Transporter 1 was a good disc with some decent meaty extras, I agree, I was a bit let down by the weak disc for the second movie. With the first one having a ~45 minute documentary on the making of, the second one only had a short 4 minute deal. Bad, bad, bad.

However, that said, one thing I found to be extremely unique about these films is the way they do bullet effects. I've never seen the use of tracer fire like that for small arms fire. I wished more movies would do that. Squips are fine, but seeing the bullets whiz through the air adds a bit of tension.

With that, I'll leave with a note that I wouldn't mind seeing a third movie to round out a trilogy.

Paul, my hat is tipped to you. Thank you for a great review and an aknowlegement of myself in it. I hate to say I enjoyed the s**t out of this s**tty movie myself. The bit where he dispaches of the bomb stuck to his car? Aw inspiring stupidity. I'm very surprised the gay community hasn't picked up on this series yet. If I ever get my own movie theater, I'll have Gay-Thursdays or something, and instead of boring, sterotypical garbage like To Wong Fu, or Quenn of the Desert, I'll show these on a double feature.

Gay as a steel workers mustache, that has got to be the best analogy I've heard in weeks.

Saw both of them and enjoyed both of them for what they were - fun popcorn flicks that don't aspire do to much but entertain. I think everyone involved knows that they're not going for the Academy Award - they're just trying to put something onscreen that people may have fun with. And that, to me, is worth something.

I did not care for "The Transporter" but when I saw the trailer for "Transporter 2" I thought it looked awesome, it looked like they added everything I wanted the first to be. I will be renting it for sure.